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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Church Women United's “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” fundraiser will take place this Sunday, May 10.
The fundraiser for the group's Kids Shoes Program will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kelseyville United Methodist Church, First and Main streets.
The event will feature music by My Divas, toys for sale, games for children and a bake sale.
Join them to help provide shoes for Northlake children and youth.
Contact Ceva Giumelli at 707-264-9372 for further information.
THE GEYSERS, Calif. – A 3.3-magnitude earthquake occurred near The Geysers geothermal steamfield on Tuesday afternoon.
The quake was reported at 2:39 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
The epicenter was located three miles northwest of The Geysers, 13 miles southwest of Clearlake and 14 miles north northeast of Healdsburg, the survey reported.
The survey said the quake was recorded at a depth of 1.6 miles.
Shake reports were submitted to the US Geological Survey from Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville and Middletown, and from out-of-county areas including Healdsburg, Saint Helena and Windsor.
A Cobb resident reported on Lake County News' Facebook page that many residents of that area also felt the quake.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A local businessman seeking the assessor-recorder’s job in the upcoming election won’t answer questions about his qualifications to hold the office in light of several misdemeanor drunk driving convictions, including one for which he is serving home detention until just before the primary.
Logan Weiper, 30, also has claimed as a qualification in the race that he has a real estate license, which state officials have confirmed was suspended five years ago.
Weiper, a fifth-generation Lake County resident, threw his hat into the ring for the assessor-recorder’s job in January, before longtime county Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker announced he was not going to seek reelection, as Lake County News has reported.
The race to succeed Wacker has since grown, with Richard Ford, the county’s assistant auditor-controller, and Sorhna Li Jordan, an attorney and county staff services analyst, announcing their candidacy and making it a three-way contest.
During a Lake County News review of the backgrounds of the three candidates, Weiper’s issues with drunk driving arrests and convictions over the past 10 years surfaced. To date, no issues have arisen with respect to the backgrounds of Ford or Jordan.
Weiper’s four DUI convictions go back to 2003, with Weiper having been sentenced for the most recent case just this past February, according to District Attorney Don Anderson and a review of local court records.
Lake County News attempted to contact Weiper in a variety of ways to speak with him about the DUIs and his suspended real estate license but was unsuccessful before this reporter walked into his downtown Lakeport bar, Logan’s, to request an interview last Thursday.
Weiper granted the interview request for the afternoon of the following day – Friday, May 2 – but just a few hours before the interview was to have taken place, Weiper sent Lake County News a Facebook message in which he said he was canceling the meeting.
“I don't see the point of going over public information. The mistakes that I've made in my personal life has no effect on the position of Assessor-Recorder,” he wrote.
Asked to reconsider, Weiper responded, “I knew my personal mistakes would come up, I'm not hiding from them. The questions you have are only about the negative.”
Latest conviction stems from fall 2013 arrest
Just this past Feb. 18, after he had joined the assessor-recorder race, Weiper entered a nolo plea to a misdemeanor “wet reckless” charge before a preliminary hearing in a case stemming from his most recent DUI arrest last fall, Anderson said.
Weiper was driving from the Kelseyville Pear Festival to work at his bar at about 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, according to Anderson.
Anderson said a California Highway Patrol officer spotted Weiper near Lakeport Cinema on Soda Bay Road. While driving Weiper was using his cell phone and texting.
After Weiper was stopped by the CHP officer, it was discovered that he had expired vehicle registration and was driving on a suspended license due to a previous DUI.
A preliminary alcohol screening test – known more commonly as a “breathalyzer” – conducted on Weiper revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.10; the legal limit in California is 0.08. A blood test taken later gave a 0.09 level, which Anderson said can be explained due to the time difference between the two tests.
At the time of that September arrest, Weiper was still on five years’ probation for a 2010 DUI, according to court records.
On Feb. 18, Weiper was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail for the DUI and driving on a suspended license charges. He’s being allowed to serve his time on home detention, Anderson said.
Weiper’s home detention and accompanying electronic monitoring began on March 4, and is due to continue until June 1 – two days before the primary – according to the terms of his sentence.
His home detention terms allow Weiper to work at his bar – he must go from his home, to the bar and then back to home again – and to leave his home twice a day, for a maximum of 20 minutes at each interval, to do farm maintenance and feed animals. Once a week he is allowed a three-hour interval to run business and personal errands.
In addition, Weiper was given another five-year probation term, an order not to drink alcohol, two fines totaling just under $3,400 and the requirement that he attend an 18-month program for repeat DUI offenders, Anderson said.
In Weiper’s recent DUI case, a Department of Motor Vehicles documents filed with the court on April 24 indicated he has failed to submit verification of an ignition interlock device, or an exemption for the device, with the DMV.
Failing to comply with the ignition interlock installation could expose him to another misdemeanor allegation, with up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.
Anderson said his office is looking into that new alleged violation. However, because Weiper’s license is suspended, Anderson does not expect the ignition interlock device to become an issue – unless Weiper is found once again driving on a suspended license.
Weiper’s strict home detention terms do not appear to permit him to attend events, including those related to the assessor-recorder campaign. However, Anderson said he was willing to grant Weiper a waiver to attend a forum planned this Thursday evening. Weiper has so far not confirmed that he planned to attend.
Previous convictions occurred over 10-year period
Weiper previously was convicted of misdemeanor DUI in cases stemming from arrests in Lake County in June 2003 and February 2010, and in Butte County in 2004, according to court records.
Butte County Superior Court records showed that Weiper was arrested for two counts of driving under the influence and one count of driving on a suspended or revoked license in September 2004.
He was convicted on a guilty plea in November 2004 of one count of misdemeanor DUI, with the other charges dropped. He was sentenced to level one DUI school, had his license revoked, did 48 hours in the Butte County Jail, and received probation and nearly $1,800 in fines, the Butte County records showed.
In February 2008 Weiper had another case for driving while unlicensed, for which he was fined, according to Lake County court records.
A fourth DUI within a 10-year period would be charged as a felony, as would any that came after it, according to Anderson.
However, after 10 years, DUIs cannot be counted toward charging a defendant with a felony, he explained.
In Weiper’s case, his most recent DUI arrest was three months outside of that 10-year limit, which is why it couldn’t be charged as a felony, according to Anderson.
Weiper’s DUI issues also raise concerns about county liability should he be elected.
Deputy County Administrator Alan Flora said that the assessor-recorder does not get a dedicated county car, but that the assessor-recorder’s office does have pool vehicles available for shared used in the field.
Flora said the assessor-recorder and all county management employees are eligible to receive a $75-per-month cell phone stipend upon approval by the county administrative officer.
Real estate license suspended; judgment in civil case entered
Weiper’s statements about his qualifications for the office also have accuracy issues.
In the candidate statement Weiper submitted for the voter information booklet going out to Lake County’s registered voters, he stated that he has a real estate license. He’s also claiming to have a real estate license on his campaign Facebook page.
However, that license has been suspended for five years, according to state records.
An online search of California Bureau of Real Estate records showed that a conditional salesperson real estate license was issued to Weiper in July 2007, but it was suspended a year and a half later, in January 2009, because he did not meet the educational requirements.
Lisa Stratton, a spokesperson for the California Department of Consumer Affairs – which oversees the Bureau of Real Estate – ran an additional check of the agency’s records and confirmed to Lake County News that Weiper’s license was conditionally suspended in 2009 for failing to meet educational requirements.
She said the agency’s records showed Weiper had not met the requirements since that time, and that beside the conditional suspension, the license’s expiration date passed in July 2011.
In the brief Facebook message exchange on Friday, Weiper acknowledged, “My real estate license is expired and has been for years. I do not use it.”
However, he would not answer questions about why he is campaigning on having a qualification he admits is not valid, and he continues to claim the real estate license on his campaign Facebook page.
Interim Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez said that, according to the elections calendar, materials in the voter information booklet could only have been removed as the result of a writ of mandate or injunction, which would have had to have been filed during a public review period that took place from March 10 to 17.
In addition to his issues over DUI, Weiper is facing legal action from another corner as well.
Last Nov. 18, a judgment was entered against him in a lawsuit filed by Janice Stokes, owner of the building on 357 N. Main St. in Lakeport that formerly housed the Buckhorn Club, according to Stokes’ attorney, Peter Windrem.
Windrem said Weiper had leased the property from Stokes and defaulted on the lease, failing to pay the rent.
The judgment against Weiper orders him to pay Stokes $7,614.21 plus interest for unpaid rent and necessary repairs to the property, Windrem said.
“We’re starting procedures now to enforce payment,” Windrem said Monday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For a second year, the Lake County Wine Alliance will hold its annual auction at the Cole Creek Equestrian Center in Kelseyville and local artist John Clark celebrates the occasion in his 2014 poster painting.
“What we see is a woman guiding her horse onto a hillside,” said Clarke, “Her head is turned so that she looks down on a valley with grapes and orchards. It's a typical Lake County landscape.”
Clarke's art has been featured on Lake County Wine Auction posters for 15 years now.
He calls his work for the Wine Alliance a labor of love.
“I really like doing this even through it gets more and more challenging to think of something new. Still, every year something comes to me,” he said.
Over the years, Clarke has captured the essence of the event's various auction venues and the color of the local wine industry with his unique style of water color on silk painting.
People seem to respond to the brightness of his work, which often brings in the highest bids.
Last year, for example, his painting of grape pickers in a vineyard brought in $6,000. Clarke, a former anesthesiologist, has been painting on water color on silk since 1994.
In the coming months, copies of this year's poster, featuring Clarke's new painting, will go on sale at winery tasting rooms, other venues around the county and John will sign copies of the poster at the auction.
This year's poster may be purchased for $20, with proceeds going to the beneficiary organizations and programs associated with The Lake County Wine Alliance. The painting itself may be viewed at the Saw Shop Bistro in Kelseyville.
This is the 15th year that the Lake County Wine Alliance has sponsored this major fundraising event in support of the arts, health and community in Lake County.
In that time, $1,081,302 has been raised for local programs.
The Wine Auction's success over the years would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors.
So far, sponsors for this year's event include Beckstoffer Vineyards, Mendo-Lake Credit Union, St. Helena Hospital, Shannon Ridge Winery, Cal Pine, Trinchero Family Estates, Kathy Fowler Chevrolet and Kelseyville Pharmacy. General Electric Corp. and Deutche Bank have provided $10,000 in matching grants.
Tickets for the Wine Auction, at $150 per person, are available by calling the Wine Alliance at 866-279-WINE or online at www.winealliance.org . See the Web site for more details and reservations.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Habitat for Humanity Lake County is providing wheelchair ramps and lifts to in-need military veterans, thanks to local donations to the Habitat Wheelchair Ramps and Lifts Initiative, in addition to funds received from the Home Depot Foundation’s Veterans Repair grant.
To date, wheelchair ramps and lifts as well as critical home repairs have been provided for 10 Lake County veterans and more are scheduled in the coming weeks.
Mona Allen served in the US Navy as a licensed vocational nurse stationed in San Diego, tending wounded American servicemen returning home from Vietnam.
Vibrant and outgoing, Allen came to Habitat for Humanity seeking a wheelchair ramp to accommodate her disabilities. She had no idea how much help was available to her.
With the $150,000 Home Depot Foundation Grant Habitat for Humanity Lake County received earlier this year, Habitat was able to repair plumbing issues in her bathroom, install a more efficient heating system, and provide other repairs in addition to the wheelchair ramp she initially requested.
“I’m very grateful to Habitat for everything they’ve given me and my family,” said Allen. “Getting in and out will be so much easier now.”
Give the gift of freedom by providing a military veteran with a wheelchair ramp or a lift, by donating $3,000 to the Wheelchair Ramp and Lift Initiative.
To help a veteran or for more information, contact Habitat for Humanity Lake County by phone at 707-994-1100 or by email at
Drought conditions have led to a significant increase in wildfire activity and to ensure Californians are ready, Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has declared May 4 to10 as “Wildfire Awareness Week.”
Cal Fire is reminding residents during Wildfire Awareness Week of the dangers posed by wildfires and the simple steps that should be followed to prepare for and prevent them.
“Fire season really never ended last year in many parts of California,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “We continue to have very dry conditions and experience unusually early fire behavior that is extreme for this time of year.”
According to the state’s final snow survey on May 1, the statewide snowpack water content is only 18 percent of normal.
Between January 1 and May 3, Cal Fire has responded to over 1,200 wildfires that have charred nearly 2,700 acres.
In an average year for the same time period, Cal Fire would typically respond to fewer than 600 wildfires.
During Wildfire Awareness Week, Cal Fire is reminding Californians that when it comes to wildfires, remember “Ready, Set, Go!”
Being Ready for a wildfire starts by maintaining 100 feet of Defensible Space and hardening homes with fire resistant building materials.
“With this year’s drought it is absolutely critical that residents be prepared for wildfires by ensuring they have 100 feet of Defensible Space around their homes,” said Chief Pimlott. “Most wildfires are preventable and we need residents and vacationers to be extra cautious outdoors because one less spark means one less wildfire.”
Homeowners looking for additional information on how to prepare themselves, their families and their homes for wildfire can visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org .
The site offers tips for residents to make their homes more resistant to wildfires and to ensure that their families are ready to evacuate early and safely when a wildfire strikes.
Gov. Brown has called on all Californians to reduce their water use by 20 percent and prevent water waste – visit www.SaveOurH2O.org to find out how everyone can do their part, and visit www.Drought.CA.Gov to learn more about how California is dealing with the effects of the drought.